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At least 1,153 records · Page 64

Effect of small-scale biomass gasification at the state of refractory lining the fixed bed reactor

The article deals with the influence of biomass gasification on the condition of the refractory lining of a fixed bed reactor. The refractory lining of the gasifier is one part of the device, which significantly affects the operational reliability and durability. After removing the refractory lining of the gasifier from the experimental reactor, there was done an assessment how gasification of different kinds of biomass reflected on its condition in terms of the main factors affecting its life. Gasification of biomass is reflected on the lining, especially through sticking at the bottom of the reactor. Measures for prolonging the life of lining consist in the reduction of temperature in the reactor, in this case, in order to avoid ash fusion biomass which it is difficult for this type of gasifier.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Experimental methods for laboratory measurements of helium spectral line broadening in white dwarf photospheres

White Dwarf (WD) stars are the most common stellar remnant in the universe. WDs usually have a hydrogen or helium atmosphere, and helium WD (called DB) spectra can be used to solve outstanding problems in stellar and galactic evolution. DB origins, which are still a mystery, must be known to solve these problems. DB masses are crucial for discriminating between different proposed DB evolutionary hypotheses. Current DB mass determination methods deliver conflicting results. The spectroscopic mass determination method relies on line broadening models that have not been validated at DB atmosphere conditions. We performed helium benchmark experiments using the White Dwarf Photosphere Experiment (WDPE) platform at Sandia National Laboratories' Z-machine that aims to study He line broadening at DB conditions. Using hydrogen/helium mixture plasmas allows investigating the importance of He Stark and van der Waals broadening simultaneously. Accurate experimental data reduction methods are essential to test these line-broadening theories. In this paper, we present data calibration methods for these benchmark He line shape experiments. We give a detailed account of data processing, spectral power calibrations, and instrument broadening measurements. Uncertainties for each data calibration step are also derived. We demonstrate that our experiments meet all benchmark experiment accuracy requirements: WDPE wavelength uncertainties are <1 Å, spectral powers can be determined to within 15%, densities are accurate at the 20% level, and instrumental broadening can be measured with 20% accuracy. Fulfilling these stringent requirements enables WDPE experimental data to provide physically meaningful conclusions about line broadening at DB conditions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The 3D magnetic topology and plasma dynamics in open stochastic magnetic field lines

We report the thermal quench triggered by locked modes is known to be mainly due to open stochastic magnetic field lines connected to the wall boundary. It is essential to understand the 3D structure of open stochastic field lines since it determines the overall plasma dynamics in the system. In this study, we analyze the 3D magnetic topology for two key concepts, the connection length L c and the effective magnetic mirror ratio M eff , and present a comprehensive picture of electron and ion dynamics related to the magnetic topology. The connection length determines the 3D structure of the ambipolar potential, and a sharp potential drop across distinct L c regions induces the E × B transport and mixing across the field line. The confinement of electrons and ions along the field line is determined by the ambipolar potential and [Formula: see text] configuration. Electron and ion temperatures in magnetic hills (M eff < 1) are lower than in magnetic wells (M eff > 1) because particles in magnetic hills are more likely to escape toward the wall boundary along the field line. The mixing between the magnetic wells and hills by E × B and magnetic drift motions results in collisionless detrapping of electrons and ions, which reduces their temperature efficiently. Numerical simulations of two different magnetic configurations demonstrate the importance of the collisionless detrapping mechanism, which could be the main cause of plasma temperature drop during the thermal quench.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Analysis of the ITER ECH Waveguide Transmission Line Expansion Unit

The ITER Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) system consists of transmission lines made up of individual sections of evacuated, aluminum, circularly corrugated waveguides. The high-intensity beam of electromagnetic radiation, necessary for plasma heating, heats the waveguides and other components in the transmission lines causing the lines to expand and contract. To maintain the structural integrity and the required straightness in the transmission lines, expansion units have to be incorporated into the ECH transmission line system. Calculations of several models of expansion units have been completed in this paper to evaluate the effect of the design and materials on the functionality of the expansion unit. Finally, models have been evaluated assuming three different expansion ranges and several different materials.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

HIGH ANGULAR RESOLUTION MULTI-LINE STUDY OF HH 1 AND 2

We present new Hubble Space Telescope (HST) narrow band images of the bright Herbig–Haro (HH) objects HH 1 and 2 in the light of the Hα, Hβ, [O i] 6300, [O ii] 3726+28, [O iii] 5007 and [S ii] 6716+30 emission lines. The resulting emission and line ratio maps give an improved picture of the physical structure of these HH objects, showing the presence of spatially limited, high excitation/ionization ridges. We find that HH 1 has a morphology that could be interpreted in terms of a single, asymmetric bow shock, and that many of the clumps of HH 2 fall in two bow-shaped structures of different excitations. We also construct two-line ratio plots showing clear trends, which are much simpler than the highly complex spatial distributions of the emission, and are therefore interesting for testing shock models of HH objects (we only present a comparison with previously published, steady plane-parallel shock models). We have also used the temperature-sensitive [O i]/[S ii] line ratio to evaluate the temperature range and to obtain temperature maps of HH 1 and 2. We find that this line ratio picks out emitting regions with temperatures ≈10{sup 4} K, except along the leading edges of the HH 1 and 2 bow shocks (in which temperatures of ∼3 → 5 × 10{sup 4} K are obtained)

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The lick AGN monitoring project 2011: Fe II reverberation from the outer broad-line region

The prominent broad Fe II emission blends in the spectra of active galactic nuclei have been shown to vary in response to continuum variations, but past attempts to measure the reverberation lag time of the optical Fe II lines have met with only limited success. Here we report the detection of Fe II reverberation in two Seyfert 1 galaxies, NGC 4593 and Mrk 1511, based on data from a program carried out at Lick Observatory in Spring 2011. Light curves for emission lines including Hβ and Fe II were measured by applying a fitting routine to decompose the spectra into several continuum and emission-line components, and we use cross-correlation techniques to determine the reverberation lags of the emission lines relative to V-band light curves. In both cases, the measured lag (τ{sub cen}) of Fe II is longer than that of Hβ, although the inferred lags are somewhat sensitive to the choice of Fe II template used in the fit. For spectral decompositions done using the Fe II template of Véron-Cetty et al., we find τ{sub cen}(Fe II)/τ{sub cen}(Hβ) = 1.9 ± 0.6 in NGC 4593 and 1.5 ± 0.3 in Mrk 1511. The detection of highly correlated variations between Fe II and continuum emission demonstrates that the Fe II emission in these galaxies originates in photoionized gas, located predominantly in the outer portion of the broad-line region.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

THE FORMATION OF IRIS DIAGNOSTICS. I. A QUINTESSENTIAL MODEL ATOM OF Mg II AND GENERAL FORMATION PROPERTIES OF THE Mg II h and k LINES

NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) space mission will study how the solar atmosphere is energized. IRIS contains an imaging spectrograph that covers the Mg II h and k lines as well as a slit-jaw imager centered at Mg II k. Understanding the observations will require forward modeling of Mg II h and k line formation from three-dimensional (3D) radiation-MHD models. This paper is the first in a series where we undertake this forward modeling. We discuss the atomic physics pertinent to h and k line formation, present a quintessential model atom that can be used in radiative transfer computations, and discuss the effect of partial redistribution (PRD) and 3D radiative transfer on the emergent line profiles. We conclude that Mg II h and k can be modeled accurately with a four-level plus continuum Mg II model atom. Ideally radiative transfer computations should be done in 3D including PRD effects. In practice this is currently not possible. A reasonable compromise is to use one-dimensional PRD computations to model the line profile up to and including the central emission peaks, and use 3D transfer assuming complete redistribution to model the central depression.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

THEORETICAL EVOLUTION OF OPTICAL STRONG LINES ACROSS COSMIC TIME

We use the chemical evolution predictions of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with our latest theoretical stellar population synthesis, photoionization, and shock models to predict the strong line evolution of ensembles of galaxies from z = 3 to the present day. In this paper, we focus on the brightest optical emission-line ratios, [N II]/H{alpha} and [O III]/H{beta}. We use the optical diagnostic Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich (BPT) diagram as a tool for investigating the spectral properties of ensembles of active galaxies. We use four redshift windows chosen to exploit new near-infrared multi-object spectrographs. We predict how the BPT diagram will appear in these four redshift windows given different sets of assumptions. We show that the position of star-forming galaxies on the BPT diagram traces the interstellar medium conditions and radiation field in galaxies at a given redshift. Galaxies containing active galactic nucleus (AGN) form a mixing sequence with purely star-forming galaxies. This mixing sequence may change dramatically with cosmic time, due to the metallicity sensitivity of the optical emission-lines. Furthermore, the position of the mixing sequence may probe metallicity gradients in galaxies as a function of redshift, depending on the size of the AGN narrow-line region. We apply our latest slow shock models for gas shocked by galactic-scale winds. We show that at high redshift, galactic wind shocks are clearly separated from AGN in line ratio space. Instead, shocks from galactic winds mimic high metallicity starburst galaxies. We discuss our models in the context of future large near-infrared spectroscopic surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Magnetic field line random walk in models and simulations of reduced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

The random walk of magnetic field lines is examined numerically and analytically in the context of reduced magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) turbulence, which provides a useful description of plasmas dominated by a strong mean field, such as in the solar corona. A recently developed non-perturbative theory of magnetic field line diffusion is compared with the diffusion coefficients obtained by accurate numerical tracing of magnetic field lines for both synthetic models and direct numerical simulations of RMHD. Statistical analysis of an ensemble of trajectories confirms the applicability of the theory, which very closely matches the numerical field line diffusion coefficient as a function of distance z along the mean magnetic field for a wide range of the Kubo number R. This theory employs Corrsin's independence hypothesis, sometimes thought to be valid only at low R. However, the results demonstrate that it works well up to R = 10, both for a synthetic RMHD model and an RMHD simulation. The numerical results from the RMHD simulation are compared with and without phase randomization, demonstrating a clear effect of coherent structures on the field line random walk for a very low Kubo number.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Calculated resonance line profiles of [Mg II], [C II], and [Si IV] in the solar atmosphere

NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph space mission, launched 2013 June 27, is intended to study the structure of the solar chromosphere and the transition region between the chromosphere and corona. The spectral lines to be observed include the Mg II k line at 2796.5 Å, the C II 1334.5 Å line, and the Si IV line at 1393.8 Å, which are formed in the middle chromosphere, the upper chromosphere, and the lower transition region, respectively. Here we calculate the profiles of these lines from four models of the solar atmosphere, intended to represent the faint and mean internetwork, a network lane, and bright network. We show how the profiles change from the center of the solar disk toward the limb of the Sun and in response to outflows and inflows. These results are intended to cover the range of expected quiet-Sun observations and assist in their interpretation. We expect that the observations will lead to improvements in the models, which can then be used to estimate the required non-radiative heating in the different regions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Electron-impact excitation collision strengths and theoretical line intensities for transitions in S III

We present Maxwellian-averaged effective collision strengths for the electron-impact excitation of S III over a wide range of electron temperatures of astrophysical importance, log T{sub e} (K) = 3.0-6.0. The calculation incorporates 53 fine-structure levels arising from the six configurations—3s {sup 2}3p {sup 2}, 3s3p {sup 3}, 3s {sup 2}3p3d, 3s {sup 2}3p4s, 3s {sup 2}3p4p, and 3s {sup 2}3p4d—giving rise to 1378 individual lines and is undertaken using the recently developed RMATRX II plus FINE95 suite of codes. A detailed comparison is made with a previous R-matrix calculation and significant differences are found for some transitions. The atomic data are subsequently incorporated into the modeling code CLOUDY to generate line intensities for a range of plasma parameters, with emphasis on allowed ultraviolet extreme-ultraviolet emission lines detected from the Io plasma torus. Electron density-sensitive line ratios are calculated with the present atomic data and compared with those from CHIANTI v7.1, as well as with Io plasma torus spectra obtained by Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer and Extreme-Ultraviolet Explorer. The present line intensities are found to agree well with the observational results and provide a noticeable improvement on the values predicted by CHIANTI.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Slow evolution of the specific star formation rate at z > 2: the impact of dust, emission lines, and a rising star formation history

We measure the evolution of the specific star formation rate (sSFR = SFR/M {sub stellar}) between redshift 4 and 6 to assess the reported 'constant' sSFR at z > 2. We derive stellar masses and star formation rates (SFRs) for a large sample of 750 z ∼ 4-6 galaxies in the GOODS-S field by fitting stellar population models to their spectral energy distributions. Dust extinction is derived from the observed UV colors. We evaluate different star formation histories (SFHs, constant and rising with time) and the impact of optical emission lines. The SFR and M {sub stellar} values are insensitive to whether the SFH is constant or rising. The derived sSFR is very similar (within 0.1 dex) in two M {sub stellar} bins centered at 1 and 5 × 10{sup 9} M {sub ☉}. The effect of emission lines was, however, quite pronounced. Assuming no contribution from emission lines, the sSFR for galaxies at 5 × 10{sup 9} M {sub ☉} evolves weakly at z > 2 (sSFR(z)∝(1 + z){sup 0.6} {sup ±} {sup 0.1}), consistent with previous results. When emission lines are included in the rest-frame optical bands, consistent with the observed Infrared Array Camera [3.6] and [4.5] fluxes, the sSFR shows higher values at high redshift following sSFR(z)∝(1 + z){sup 1.0} {sup ±} {sup 0.1}, i.e., the best-fit evolution shows a sSFR ∼2.3 × higher at z ∼ 6 than at z ∼ 2. This is, however, a substantially weaker trend than that found at z < 2 and even than that expected from current models for z > 2 (sSFR(z)∝(1 + z){sup 2.5}). Even accounting for emission lines, the observed sSFR(z) trends at z > 2 are still in tension with theoretical expectations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A z ∼ 5.7 Lyα emission line with an ultrabroad red wing

Using the Lyα emission line as a tracer of high-redshift, star-forming galaxies, hundreds of Lyα emission line galaxies (LAEs) at z > 5 have been detected. These LAEs are considered to be low-mass young galaxies, critical to the re-ionization of the universe and the metal enrichment of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) and the intergalactic medium (IGM). It is assumed that outflows in LAEs can help both ionizing photons and Lyα photons escape from galaxies. However, we still know little about the outflows in high-redshift LAEs due to observational difficulties, especially at redshift >5. Models of Lyα radiative transfer predict asymmetric Lyα line profiles with broad red wings in LAEs with outflows. Here, we report a z ∼ 5.7 Lyα emission line with a broad red wing extending to >1000 km s{sup –1} relative to the peak of Lyα line, which has been detected in only a couple of z > 5 LAEs until now. If the broad red wing is ascribed to gas outflow instead of active galactic nucleus activity, the outflow velocity could be larger than the escape velocity (∼500 km s{sup –1}) of a typical halo mass of z ∼ 5.7 LAEs, which is consistent with the idea that outflows in LAEs disperse metals to CGM and IGM.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Non-coherent continuum scattering as a line polarization mechanism

Line scattering polarization can be strongly affected by Rayleigh scattering at neutral hydrogen and Thomson scattering at free electrons. Often a depolarization of the continuum results, but the Doppler redistribution produced by the continuum scatterers, which are light (hence, fast), induces more complex interactions between the polarization in spectral lines and in the continuum. Here we formulate and solve the radiative transfer problem of scattering line polarization with non-coherent continuum scattering consistently. The problem is formulated within the spherical tensor representation of atomic and light polarization. The numerical method of solution is a generalization of the Accelerated Lambda Iteration that is applied to both the atomic system and the radiation field. We show that the redistribution of the spectral line radiation due to the non-coherence of the continuum scattering may modify the shape of the emergent fractional linear polarization patterns significantly, even yielding polarization signals above the continuum level in intrinsically unpolarizable lines.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Herschel extreme lensing line observations: Dynamics of two strongly lensed star-forming galaxies near redshift z = 2

We report on two regularly rotating galaxies at redshift z ≈ 2, using high-resolution spectra of the bright [C II] 158 μm emission line from the HIFI instrument on the Herschel Space Observatory. Both SDSS090122.37+181432.3 ({sup S}0901{sup )} and SDSSJ120602.09+514229.5 ({sup t}he Clone{sup )} are strongly lensed and show the double-horned line profile that is typical of rotating gas disks. Using a parametric disk model to fit the emission line profiles, we find that S0901 has a rotation speed of vsin (i) ≈ 120 ± 7 km s{sup –1} and a gas velocity dispersion of σ {sub g} < 23 km s{sup –1} (1σ). The best-fitting model for the Clone is a rotationally supported disk having vsin (i) ≈ 79 ± 11 km s{sup –1} and σ {sub g} ≲ 4 km s{sup –1} (1σ). However, the Clone is also consistent with a family of dispersion-dominated models having σ {sub g} = 92 ± 20 km s{sup –1}. Our results showcase the potential of the [C II] line as a kinematic probe of high-redshift galaxy dynamics: [C II] is bright, accessible to heterodyne receivers with exquisite velocity resolution, and traces dense star-forming interstellar gas. Future [C II] line observations with ALMA would offer the further advantage of spatial resolution, allowing a clearer separation between rotation and velocity dispersion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The nature of extreme emission line galaxies at z = 1-2: kinematics and metallicities from near-infrared spectroscopy

We present near-infrared spectroscopy of a sample of 22 Extreme Emission Line Galaxies at redshifts 1.3 < z < 2.3, confirming that these are low-mass (M{sub *} = 10{sup 8}-10{sup 9} M{sub ☉}) galaxies undergoing intense starburst episodes (M{sub *}/SFR ∼ 10-100 Myr). The sample is selected by [O III] or Hα emission line flux and equivalent width using near-infrared grism spectroscopy from the 3D-HST survey. High-resolution NIR spectroscopy is obtained with LBT/LUCI and VLT/X-SHOOTER. The [O III]/Hβ line ratio is high (≳ 5) and [N II]/Hα is always significantly below unity, which suggests a low gas-phase metallicity. We are able to determine gas-phase metallicities for seven of our objects using various strong-line methods, with values in the range 0.05-0.30 Z{sub ☉} and with a median of 0.15 Z{sub ☉}; for three of these objects we detect [O III] λ4363, which allows for a direct constraint on the metallicity. The velocity dispersion, as measured from the nebular emission lines, is typically ∼50 km s{sup –1}. Combined with the observed star-forming activity, the Jeans and Toomre stability criteria imply that the gas fraction must be large (f{sub gas} ≳ 2/3), consistent with the difference between our dynamical and stellar mass estimates. The implied gas depletion timescale (several hundred Myr) is substantially longer than the inferred mass-weighted ages (∼50 Myr), which further supports the emerging picture that most stars in low-mass galaxies form in short, intense bursts of star formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

CONSTRAINING THE MILKY WAY'S HOT GAS HALO WITH O VII AND O VIII EMISSION LINES

The Milky Way hosts a hot (≈2 × 10{sup 6} K), diffuse, gaseous halo based on detections of z = 0 O VII and O VIII absorption lines in quasar spectra and emission lines in blank-sky spectra. Here we improve constraints on the structure of the hot gas halo by fitting a radial model to a much larger sample of O VII and O VIII emission line measurements from XMM-Newton/EPIC-MOS spectra compared to previous studies (≈650 sightlines). We assume a modified β-model for the halo density distribution and a constant-density Local Bubble from which we calculate emission to compare with the observations. We find an acceptable fit to the O VIII emission line observations with χ{sub red}{sup 2} (dof) = 1.08 (644) for best-fit parameters of n{sub o}r{sub c}{sup 3β}=1.35±0.24 cm{sup –3} kpc{sup 3β} and β = 0.50 ± 0.03 for the hot gas halo and negligible Local Bubble contribution. The O VII observations yield an unacceptable χ{sub red}{sup 2} (dof) = 4.69 (645) for similar best-fit parameters, which is likely due to temperature or density variations in the Local Bubble. The O VIII fitting results imply hot gas masses of M(<50 kpc) = 3.8{sub −0.3}{sup +0.3}×10{sup 9} M{sub ⊙} and M(<250 kpc) = 4.3{sub −0.8}{sup +0.9}×10{sup 10} M{sub ⊙}, accounting for ≲50% of the Milky Way's missing baryons. We also explore our results in the context of optical depth effects in the halo gas, the halo gas cooling properties, temperature and entropy gradients in the halo gas, and the gas metallicity distribution. The combination of absorption and emission line analyses implies a sub-solar gas metallicity that decreases with radius, but that also must be ≥0.3 Z {sub ☉} to be consistent with the pulsar dispersion measure toward the Large Magellanic Cloud.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Probing the physics of narrow-line regions in active galaxies. iii. accretion and cocoon shocks in the liner NGC 1052

We present Wide Field Spectrograph integral field spectroscopy and Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph spectroscopy for the low-ionization nuclear emission line region (LINER) galaxy NGC 1052. We infer the presence of a turbulent accretion flow forming a small-scale accretion disk. We find a large-scale outflow and ionization cone along the minor axis of the galaxy. Part of this outflow region is photoionized by the active galactic nucleus and shares properties with the extended narrow-line region of Seyfert galaxies, but the inner (R≲1.0″) accretion disk and the region around the radio jet appear shock excited. The emission-line properties can be modeled by a “double-shock” model in which the accretion flow first passes through an accretion shock in the presence of a hard X-ray radiation, and the accretion disk is then processed through a cocoon shock driven by the overpressure of the radio jets. This model explains the observation of two distinct densities (∼10{sup 4} and ∼10{sup 6} cm{sup −3}) and provides a good fit to the observed emission-line spectrum. We derive estimates for the velocities of the two shock components and their mixing fractions, the black hole mass, and the accretion rate needed to sustain the LINER emission and derive an estimate for the jet power. Our emission-line model is remarkably robust against variation of input parameters and hence offers a generic explanation for the excitation of LINER galaxies, including those of spiral type such as NGC 3031 (M81).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗